Nnamdi Asomugha Thinks Less of His Own Work Than You Do

Nnamdi Asomugha Thinks Less of His Own Work Than You Do

Think back to some of the worst things you said about Nnamdi Asomugha over the past few years – let’s try to keep this PG, people. Free-agent bust of epic proportions? Hard to argue. Some of the worst cornerback play of all time? I’m really not in any position to say, but…

Well anyway, think of all those terrible things you said about Nnamdi the football player, and apparently he’s probably thought them himself. In fact, the three-time Pro Bowler claims he’s probably said worse. We seriously doubt that (he has met you folks before, right?), but while Asomugha tries to rehabilitate his NFL career with the 49ers, he sounds very conscious of having to look in the mirror after two miserable seasons with the Eagles.

Here’s Asomugha admitting he can rag on his own shoddy effort with the best of ‘em, as transcribed by Matthew Barros of The Sacramento Bee (courtesy PFT).

Asomugha, who is perhaps the most reserved player on the team, wasn't rattled by the tepid review. He said outside criticism is never going to be as intense as what he gives himself.

"I'm highly critical of myself – highly, highly critical of myself," he said. "So there's not much that someone else might say that makes me feel like I need to be motivated in a different way. Like I said, I'm a self-motivated guy. And I'm probably saying worse (things) than the next guy's saying anyway."

Asomugha’s revelation that he too thinks No. 24 is a washed-up bum comes after his own defensive coordinator in San Francisco offered up some less-than glowing reviews of his new corner.

"He's had some good days out here and some days where you weren't sure if he was going to still have it," Fangio said. "I think we're kind of in between with him right now. Hopefully he'll be able to still have some gas left in his tank to go out there and play like he did prior to going to Philadelphia."

It’s still something of a mystery what exactly happened to Asomugha. He was already 30 when he joined the Birds, so perhaps he was already into rapid decline, which easily could have gone unnoticed as opposing quarterbacks rarely bothered to challenge him in Oakland. Maybe he was never as good as advertised in the first place, riding the strength of one eight-interception season and the weakness of the corner opposite him on the Raiders' defense to stardom.

Whatever the case, he’s the Niners’ problem now. How could Nnamdi make these statements worse?

"I think anybody who knows me or who has played with or against me along the road here, knows that I am not that kind of player," Manning said, according to a statement released by the Flyers. "I am not out there intentionally trying to hurt people. I'm a guy who plays the game hard and I take pride in that."

Gretzky didn't mind seeing that fire in McDavid, saying competitiveness is part of what makes the great ones great. And he said the targeting comes with the territory of being a superstar. It was something he and Mario Lemieux dealt with, too.

"And Connor, he's going to get tested every night, but this is not new for him," Gretzky said Friday at the NHL board of governors meetings. "He's been tested since he was a kid and then playing junior hockey and now in the NHL and he's always responded and done his part."